Kiln for burning brick



(No Model!) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

s. K. SMITH.

KILN FOR BURNING BRICK, POTTERY, 6w. Np. 517,893. Patented Apr. 10, 1894.

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S. K. SMITH. KILN FOR BURNING BRICK, POTTERY, &c. No. 517.893. Patented Apr. 10, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL K. SMITH, NEW BRIGHTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

KlLN FOR BURNING BRICK, POTTERY, 86C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,893, dated April 10, 1894.

Application filed September 14,1893. Serial No. 485,526- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL K. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Brighton, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Kilns for Burn- 1ng Brick, Pottery, 850.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked zhereon, which form a part of this specificaion.

My invention relates "to improvements in pottery or brick kilns and consists in the construction of the foundation of such kilns with a central quadrangular flue system, of equal sectional area with the main connecting flue which is built diametrically across the foundation, said central flue system opening into said main flue on both sides and providing greater outlet area for the gases, and, conse quently, greater uniformity of temperature; in the radial system of flues extending from 'said central flues to the outer wall of the kiln and connected by ports or openings which permit the free passage of gases of combustion from one to the others, whereby the construction of this portion of the kiln is lighter and stronger than in the usual method of building; expansion and contraction of flue walls is better provided for and the kiln more quickly and uniformly heated or cooled than by any other known method of building; in the construction of such radial flues, with the alternate flues opening, at their inner ends, into the central flue system, and at their outer ends, into the uptake flues within the kiln wall, and the flues, whereby a continuous passage is formed for flame or combusting gases, either .from above, within the kiln to the lower radial flues and their connecting uptake flues, or, from the lower flues upward through the body of the kiln to the upper outlet flues, whereby the kiln may be used as an updraft kiln to dry the ware and its course reversed and fired as a downdraft kiln to vitrity the ware.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of such a kiln as my invention relates to. Fig.2 is avertical transverse section of such a kiln, upon the line G H, Fig. 4. Fig. 3isavertical transverse section upon the line I K, Fig. 4. Fig.4 isahorizon'talsection upon the lines A, B, O, D, and E, F, Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through two such kilns and their connecting flue 1.

I build, of brick, upon a proper foundation, a connecting flue 1, which passes diametrically across the kiln, passing through the outer wall 11, and connects with similar kilns upon one or both sides; centrally, within the floor area of the kiln, and occupying about onefifth of said floor area, I construct a square flue system 2, 2, of the same sectional area as the connecting flue 1, two of itssides being parallel with said connecting flue and the other two sides opening therein; radial walls are builtfromthiscentralflue2totheouterwall11; of the'fiues formed by these radial walls, each alternate flue, from the transverse connecting flue 1, is extended into the central flue 2, 2, at its inner end, and is connected with an uptake flue 13, in the wall 11, at its outer end as shown at 3, 3, Fig. 4, while the adjoining flues, as 4, 4, are closed at their inner ends and have their outer ends extended through the kiln wall 11, to form fire holes, which are fitted with doors 20, 31. Each of the radial flues, thus formed is connected with its neighboring flues by the openings or ports 16, 16, in section A B, Fig. 4. Upon the system of flues, thus formed, a series of parallel walls 18, 18, is built to extend over the entire floor "area of the kiln, and the spaces between said walls form a second series of flues '7, 7, section 0, D, connected with the underlying flues over which they pass by the openings 15, 15;

upon the walls 18, 18, the floor of the kiln is laid, as at section E F, Fig. 4, and a series of openings 9, 9, connect the parallel fiues 7, 7, with the interior of the kiln.

Immediately above the fiues 41, 4, the furnace bags 10, 10, are built, connecting with the outer wall 11, and extending into the interior of the kiln; the fire holes 6, of these furnaces are fitted with grate bars and outer fire doors 19, and all ash pits are also fitted with doors 19 for closing to preventinfiow of air. The uptake fiues 13, are fitted, at about the upper fire level, with dampers 14, and the connecting fiue 1 is fitted with a damper 27, at a point outside the wall 11.

Immediately above the furnace bags 10, 1O fiues 25, 25, are carried up through the Wall 11, and are each provided with a cover damper 26, 26, Fig. 2; chimneys 24, 24, to extend the fiues 13, 13 are built upon the outer wall 11, and similar chimneys may, if desired, extend the fiues 25, 25, to any desired height.

In operation, a kiln of myinvention, is filled with brick or ware through the door 30, which is then bricked up. The damper 27 in the connecting flue 1 is closed; the uptake fiues 13, 13 are also closed by means of their .dampers 14, 14, and the cover dampers 26 upon the upper fiues 25 are opened; fires are kindled in the lower fire holes 5, 5, of the ii ues 4, 4, and the doors of the upper furnaces are tightly closed. The heat from the fires in 5, 5, is distributed through the lower system of fiues by the ports or openings 16, 16, rises through the ports 15 15 into the parallel fiues 7, 7, and passes into the body of the kiln through the floor ports 9, 9, thence it arises through the ware or bricks and is borne out through the open upper fiues 25, 25; by this method the ware is quickly dried, the' steam from the ware is carried off upward with the escaping gases, and the lowerlayers of ware are not softened or crushed, as is often the case from the excessive moisture in drying 0E by down draft. WVhen the ware is dry, fires are kindled in the upper fire holes 6, 6, the dampers 14:, 14:, in the uptake fiues 13, 13, are opened and the damper covers 26 on the fiues 25, are closed; at the same time the fire doors 20 and the ash pit doors 31, of the lower fire holes 5, are closed, and the burning gases from the fires 6 pass over the bags 10, through the ware and down through the fioor ports 9, 9, to the parallel fiues 7, whence they pass through the radial fiues 3, 3, t0 the uptake fiues 13. Ordinarily, the heat is very evenly distributed all over the contents of the kiln, because of the perfect distribution of draft through the fioor ports 9, 9, and the equality of the draft from below the fioor 8 to the fiues 13, but if, for any reason, it is desired to retard the heating in one portion of the kiln, the damper 14, in the fiue 13, nearest that portion is closed and the doors 20, 31 of the fire-hole 5, nearest that portion, are opened; there is a retardation of circulation of the hot gases caused by closing the damper, and an influx of cool air from the open doors and by this means the heating is kept uniformly even and under control. When the kilnhas been properly burned the damper 27 is raised and all doors and dampers are opened. (Jool air from the lower fire-holes 5, 5, passes into the fiues below the floor and the heated air is carried 06 through the uptake fines 13 and 25.

Referring to Fig. 5, which illustrates the process of firing a series of my kilns, I represents a kiln in which the ware has been dried, or green fired by the updraft portion of the process, and in which the fires have been started in the furnace bags 10, 10, and the dampers 25 of the uptake fiues 25 closed. K represents an adjoining kiln which has been filled with green or damp ware and sealed up, and in which, the dampers 26 are opened and all others closed. The dampers 27, 27 in the main flue 1, between I and K are opened and the products of combustion, in the furnace bags 10, of kiln I pass down through the ware in I, and, by the flue 1, to the green ware in K through which they pass off by the fiues 25. \Vhen the ware in K is sufficiently fired to enable the operative to continue the burning by the downdraft process, the productsof combustion are shifted,in their course, by means of the valves 27, to another kiln and the fires in the furnace bags 10, of the kiln K are lighted and that kiln fired in the usual manner of down draft kilns. By this process of firing a saving of at least twenty per cent. of fuel is attained and a better quality of ware results from the more uniform quality of the updraft drying or green firing of the ware by means of the gases from the down draft firing of the adjoining kiln. It will be seen that this form of construction enables the operative to burn akiln quickly because of the rapid drying out;'it gives economy in ware because the ware is not subject to steaming or crushing from the down draft drying; it is more quickly cooled and emptied because of the admission of cool air below the floor; and it is less liable than ordinary kilns to destruction of its fiues from expansion and contraction because of the greater surface and stellar form of said fiues.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a kiln for brick or pottery, a foundation fiue system consisting of a central quadrangular flue of like section with the equatorial connecting fiue and having two of its sides parallel therewith and the other two sides opening therein; aseries of radial fiues, opening, at their inner ends, into said quadrangular due and, at their outer ends into damper controlled uptake fiues in the wall of the kiln, a second series of radial fiues, interposed between said open end fiues, and closed at their inner ends, but with their outer ends passing through the kiln wall, fitted as fire-holes and provided with tight doors; ports or openings connecting said radial fiues each with the others; a series of paral- ICC IIO

lel fines built upon and connecting with said radial and quadrangular fines, and a ported or perforated floor superposed upon said parallel fines, whereby, when fired in the fire-holes of the radial flu'es, the products of combustion are distributed evenly over the entire floor space and arise within the kiln as shown and described.

2. In a reversible draft kiln, the combination, with aseries of lower fire holes connected by radial fines with a main equatorial fine and with rectangular fines opening into said main flue, a series of parallelflnes superposed upon said radial fines and main flue and a kiln fioor laid upon said parallel fines, openings or ports through said floor to said parallel fines, and openings or ports connecting said parallel fines with the underlying radialflues, rectangular flue and main flue, damper controlled uptake flues connected with said radial fines, furnace bags built over said lower fire holes, and fitted with tight doors, a series of damper controlled outlet fines, opening, within the kiln, above said furnace bags and passing out through the top of the kiln wall and dampers Within the main fine, outside the kiln walls,whereby the combusting gases from said furnace bags may be directed down ward through the floor and thence upward through the uptake fines, or to be carried away through the main fiue or gases, from the lower fire holes, may be carried upward through the floor and escape through the upper series of outlet flues, as shown and described.

3. In a kiln of the described class the combination, with a central quadrangular distributing flue and an equatorial main con! necting fine, each opening into the other, of a series of radial flues opening into the central quadrangular flue and into damper 0011- trolled uptake fines; a series' of fire-hole fines having outer doors and connecting with their neighboring radial fines by ports or openings; a series of parallel fines upon and connecting with said radial fines; aperforated floor upon said parallel flues, and a series of furnace bags, above the fire hole fines, fitted with tight doors, and a series of damper controlled outlet flues above said furnace bags and within the kiln wall, ,whereby the kiln may be fired as an updraft kiln until the ware is dried and subsequently as a downdraft kiln until the ware is wholly burned or vitrified, and, thereafter may be quickly cooled by the opening of the fines and doors, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signatnrein presence of two Witnesses.

SAMUEL K. SMITH.

Witnesses:

C. O. ROBINGSON,

E. C. CARTER. 

